Deontay Wilder tells crazy story of coming face to face with sharks… ‘Never panic’

In an exclusive interview with Bloody Knockout, he explained: “I had two scuba diving instructors in my life who have been amazing.

“One is a guy whose family used to live on the water, so all they used to do is eat seafood, he had to go down there as a little boy to get the lobsters and bring them back up because they lived on the boat.

“His love for sharks was none other, I’ve never seen it in my life. He was married, and his wife was an instructor too. I was in Barbuda getting trained. I understood his passion.

“I had another instructor who was excellent out in Bali, we had a great time in the Indian Ocean. With the guy who loves the sharks, he knows all about them.

“So, he always used to tell me how to position myself in front of a shark, which sharks to stay under and which sharks to stay on top of, and what to do if a shark approaches you. The number one thing is, never panic. When you look like a coward, you look like food.

“With the guy in Bali, he was big on the stingrays, how they can easily hide in the sand at the bottom of the ocean. He was right, I almost stepped on one, going down there, he was so covered.

“The sharks don’t bother me, I’m already 6ft7, so underwater you magnify. I always tell my diving partners, ‘I can only imagine what the sharks think I am, to see this big long human figure, don’t know what it is’.

“One time, I had a school of fish, I could see right through them, it was like maybe 50 of them, probably thinking, ‘What is this’? They were circling around me, I thought it was the most unique thing ever. If you wanna know what the most beautiful place in the world is, it’s under the sea.”

Deontay Wilder says it’s ‘on sight’ with Jarrell Miller during explosive rant

While Wilder loves sharks, he detests Jarrell Miller.

The pair certainly don’t see eye-to-eye, with the fighters firing shots at each other at every given opportunity.

A victory over Herndon could give the Alabama brawler an opportunity to settle his rivalry with ‘Big Baby’ once and for all.

With a deep dislike for his countryman, Wilder claims it’s ‘on sight’ with Miller.